Seven Indianapolis Colts named to the Pro Bowl. Michael Vick named, suspiciously so, according to some folks. Even a Lion -- defensive tackle Shaun Rogers -- made the team. Yawwwwwn......
If there is a more inconsequential all-star game than the NFL Pro Bowl, perhaps it is the MLS Soccer Jamboree or the Garfield Heights, Ohio Little League Honor Roll. It's a joke game played under joke rules featuring players who are selected based on reputation more than performance. It's touch football played under the sun in Hawaii and they may as well just put a lei on the quarterback for as often as he gets hit.
To me, the more respectable postseason honors belongs to the All-Pro team, which usually varies significantly from the Pro Bowl rosters. I believe the All-Pro squad is selected by the Associated Press. Certainly they underwrite it. Regardless, there are no players on their selection crew. And the players, who have a role in determining who makes the Pro Bowl, don't always think right. They sometimes make decisions based on the last time they faced someone -- which may have been three years ago.
I remember Pat Swilling when he played for the Lions. Swilling, a pass rushing linebacker/defensive end, arrived in 1993 after a decent career in New Orleans. For that '93 season, Swilling was serviceable, and made the Pro Bowl, probably rightly so. But in 1994, Swilling was far from the Pat Swilling of old. He was injured. His sack total dropped way down. He just wasn't, frankly, a top notch NFL linebacker anymore.
Yet Swilling made the Pro Bowl anyway, and that was the last straw for me regarding that game and the people who play in it.
It's laughable, really, to see the teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing over the Pro Bowl and who makes it and who doesn't. Of course, I'm sure there are contract incentives based on Pro Bowl selections, and since players have a hand in deciding rosters, it's a curious thing indeed, when the fraternity of NFL players tend to look out for one another. If you think I am suggesting that may taint some players' decision-making, well there you have it.
This just in: Jerry Rice is an alternate.
Relax -- I'm joking. I hope.
1 comment:
It often cracks me up when someone cites a Pro Bowl bid as an indication of someone's ability.
"Dre' Bly knows what he's doing! C'mon, he's a Pro Bowl defensive back!"
What does that really mean? It's just a popularity contest, not an indication of the best players at their position.
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